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This week, classic gaming enthusiasts Hamster revisit the mammoth library of the Sony PlayStation and, once again, return with a title unplayable to anyone outside of Japan. Nevertheless, Koei Tecmo's Nobunaga Oda Den is now available on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2.
Released in 1998 as the fourth chapter in the Legend of a Hero ("Eiketsuden") series, Nobunaga Oda Den is a war strategy sim focusing on the life of the titular samurai and "daimyo", Oda Nobunaga. The leader of the Oda clan, Nobunaga is recognised as a key figure in Japanese history, feuding with warlords during the country's Sengoku era. Considered one of the "Unifiers" of Japan, Nobunaga's legend has been visited countless times in books, film, stage plays, and numerous video games.
Nobunaga Oda Den is a stripped-down series entry, removing much of the side-questing and battle preparation and focusing on the wars themselves. As Nobunaga, players rally troops in a series of showdowns pulled from the daimyo's life story, including the 1560 Battle of Okehazama, the 1571 March on Kyoto, and the 1575 Battle of Nagashino. As a curious feature, players can make decisions that differ from those chosen in real life, ultimately defying Nobunaga's death (by his own hand) at Honnō-ji Temple.
Like many of the recent additions to Console Archives, Nobunaga Oda Den is presented as a straight port of its original PS1 release, and as such is available in Japanese only. It would get tiring for me to continue to harp on about this, but it's still frustrating to see Hamster open the doors to a catalogue of PS1 titles but show disinterest in either localising these rare titles or punctuating the choices with more universal games. Still, as I've also noted, preservation is important, and to have these rereleases at all is worthwhile.
Nobunaga Oda Den is available now on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 via the Console Archives.